Belgium

Municipality St Vith and sourrounding area

More than 2,000 children in 29 schools together collected 22,075 green footprints!

In 2014, the German speaking community in East-Belgium participated for the third time. 2,250 children from the municipalities Amel, Büllingen, Bütgenbach, Raeren and St. Vith have been very active going to school by foot, bicycle, scooter or bus. Also the parents have eagerly participated in abandoning the parents taxi in order to allow their children a healthy way to school.

Paul Bongartz, co-organizer with the St. Vith’s car sharing agency “Drive with me”, is happy about the first changes: “We realized that in schools which had participated for one or two years, even out of the mobility week, they are already used to coming to school by foot or by bicycle. This is already a goal that the children are learning again to walk to school together.”

But you do not only receive green footprints by walking. Those who eat an apply from the garden instead buying one in the supermarket distinguish themselves as small climate protectors. “I eat the apple from the garden, because in doing so you do not take fruit from countries far away. Those have to be transported here somehow and that is not really good.“ says a Girl from the primary school Hauset.

This year the children also worked on the film “Auf dem Weg zur Schule”/”On the way to school” by Pascal Plisson. With the help of that the children could compare how children around the world are coming to school. Some of the children said that the won’t complain anymore if they have to sit in the bus for one hour.